( patients willstay on their medication...)New Data Show Early Non-Response to Antipsychotic Treatment May Be,Strong Predictor of Subsequent Non-Response for People with,Schizophrenia,Health

Key Findings

The first study, Predicting Response to Atypical Antipsychotics Based on Early Response in the Treatment of Schizophrenia, was a post-hoc analysis of data from five randomized, double-blind clinical trials comparing atypical antipsychotic medications in 1,077 patients with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophreniform disorder, who were at least moderately ill at baseline and were treated for a minimum of two weeks. Patients were assigned into early responder or early non-responder groups at two weeks based on at least a 20 percent improvement on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale [PANSS] total score. (PANSS is the primary psychiatric scale used to measure change in schizophrenia symptoms.) Subsequent response at endpoint was defined as at least a 20 percent improvement in PANSS total score (mild improvement), or at least a 40 percent improvement in PANSS total score (moderate improvement). The following was determined at the three-month endpoint:

      - Seventy-four percent of patients identified as early responders or

        early non-responders maintained their status.

      - Early responders showed significantly greater improvements in symptoms

        at all time points compared to early non-responders.

      - Early non-response appears to be an accurate predictor of subsequent

        non-response to antipsychotic medications.

Researchers for the second study, Clinical, Functional, and Economic Ramifications of Early Non-Response to Antipsychotics in the Naturalistic Treatment of Schizophrenia, performed a post-hoc analysis on data from a one- year, multi-site, randomized open-label study of antipsychotic medications. Patients who completed eight weeks of treatment on their initial medication (n=443) were included in the analysis. Patients with early response were identified as having at least 20 percent improvement from study start - baselin
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